If football games are won in the trenches, Air Force assistant coaches Pete Hurt and Ron Burton might have to fight with paper soldiers Friday night against Army in West Point, N.Y.
Because of injuries on the Falcons’ offensive and defensive lines, Hurt and Burton could be using players they know only on paper. Hurt already is starting freshman offensive lineman Nicholas Charles at left guard because of injuries. Burton has freshman Ryan Gonzales starting at defensive tackle with former tight end Chris Evans, a junior, and freshmen Ben Garland and Myles Morales waiting in the wings if more holes develop on the defensive line.
“We’re in a stop-the-bleeding type situation right now,” AFA coach Fisher DeBerry said. “We’ve been hit pretty hard on the offensive and defensive lines, and that’s where it all starts on the way to winning a game.”
DeBerry said at the beginning of the season the Falcons would be competitive if they could avoid injuries. They have lost two in a row and are 3-4 heading into the game at Army (3-6).
“I think we still have been competitive, but we needed to avoid the injury bug,” DeBerry said.
Army coach Bobby Ross isn’t sure his team is much better off. The Black Knights also have lost several players.
“We’re a little banged up and I think Air Force is, too,” Ross said. “It could be survival of the fittest, because we’ve both had injuries.”
DeBerry said he hadn’t seen so many injuries at guard in his previous 43 years of coaching. The Falcons lost guards Tyler Dohallow, Caleb Morris and Thomas Crump in the same week, resulting in Charles getting the starting call.
Dohallow, a senior, and Morris, a junior, could play against Army.
Burton has seen his defensive line, as it was at the start of the season, disappear. He has lost seniors Gilberto Perez, Grant Thomas and Kevin Quinn, juniors Josh Clayton and Noah Garguile and sophomore Jake Paulson. Perez has returned and Paulson could play against Army.
“You might think that something would have to give,” Burton said. “But it hasn’t. I stay as positive as I can. I wouldn’t say it’s critical because the next player has stepped in. We’re going to make sure we don’t have a complete drop-off because we’re not asking anyone to do anything they can’t do.”
Burton won’t use the injuries as an excuse for the Falcons’ defensive performances the past two weeks against San Diego State and Brigham Young. The Falcons didn’t get a turnover or a sack in either game.
“The key is being opportunistic,” Burton said. “We had some opportunities to get a sack and a couple of interceptions, but we didn’t make the plays. Injuries are part of the game. It’s how you adjust to them.”
Hurt isn’t ringing any alarms, either, even though Air Force’s offense wasn’t great in the Falcons’ 19-12 loss at San Diego State and their 33-14 loss at home to BYU.
“It hasn’t reached an emergency stage,” Hurt said of the injuries. “The biggest negative is what it has done to our depth. We don’t have the chance to keep fresh players in the game. The offense we run is a more physical game as opposed to pass blocking 45 times a game.”
Regardless of who’s playing, Hurt believes they can expect Army’s best shot Friday.
“We haven’t put points on the board as we would have liked,” Hurt said. “We’ve had some lengthy drives and gotten nothing out of them. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting our quarterback. We’ve got a quarterback (junior Shaun Carney) who can throw the football. We have to work on that and be more balanced in our offense.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
